IN EuROPE ARÍSSAN EORAIP - Ulster...

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SDLP EuroPEan anD LocaL govErnmEnt

manifESto 2014

STRENgTh AgAIN

IN EuROPE NEART ARÍSSAN EORAIP

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Many important decisions, on issues like support for agriculture, banking reform and equality, are made in the European Parliament. It isessential that the working families of the North, have their needs represented by a strong pro-European voice of influence where thesecrucial decisions are being taken.

Strength in Europe will mean:

change for the better for growth and jobs: Page 8

change for the better for young people: Page 16

change for the better for agriculture, fisheries and rural communities: Page 18

change for the better for hard pressed households: 4

change for the better for our shared identity: Page 30

Strength again in Europe will result from being a member of the Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats (S&D group) which islikely to be the largest group in the Parliament after the elections with influence at the heart of the EU institutions – not the weakness thatcomes from being in smaller groupings, on the margins, or even sitting alone in the European Parliament.

ChANgE FOR ThE BETTER AThRAIgh ChuN LEASA

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STRENgTh AgAIN IN EuROPE NEART ARÍS SAN EORAIP

StrEngtH in EuroPEan PartnErSHiP

The SDLP is and has always been the most pro-European voice in Northern politics. This strong voice in Europe can be of great benefit tothe hard working families of Northern Ireland.

The SDLP is part of the Party of European Socialists (PES), a united group which sits as the Progressive Alliance of Socialists andDemocrats (S&D group) in the European Parliament. One of the largest and most powerful groupings in the Parliament, the S&D group isexpected to become the biggest grouping after the election.

This partnership will mean strength and influence across the EU institutions and its corridors of power.

cHangE for tHE BEttEr in LocaL govErnmEnt

The SDLP has carried through changes to the system of local councils with the Review of Public Administration and areduction in the number of local councils from 26 to 11. While we argued for 15 councils, a better model to providequality local representation, the main Executive parties decided to proceed with an 11 council model.

The SDLP has ensured that this reform will incorporate legal requirements for power-sharing and cross-communityprotection. We have legislated against potential abuse and majority rule.

The SDLP changes will provide councils with greater economic and planning powers bringing decision making closerto communities. Local people will have power to shape their local communities:

change for the better in local government: 6

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Europe is of deep importance to Northern Ireland. In a way thedebate around European involvement is to be welcomed as itprovides the opportunity to affirm the great advantages of EUmembership. But if there was a referendum today or tomorrow, ourstrong advice is “vote YES to EU membership”.

While the North’s global trade grows, our biggest and mostestablished export markets (Britain aside) are the Republic ofIreland and the EU. In the current global climate establishedmarkets are critical. Our businesses can only gain from access tothe vast and growing EU market. It is evident in both the North andSouth of the island that EU membership has provided significantinvestment flows. If this was put in jeopardy it would be our peoplewho would lose out, our farmers, businesses, border areas andareas of need.

Northern Ireland can continue to learn from European best practicein innovation, research and cross-border cooperation, to gain fromthe opportunity for our people to work abroad and for ourbusinesses to attract skilled people to add value and create furthergrowth and jobs. When the EU works best, proposes fair regulationand upgrades standards it is of help not hindrance.

Crucially, the British Government does not grasp the character ofIrish farming. Our farmers stand to gain much more within Europethan outside.

Importantly, our young people stand to benefit from guaranteed jobplacements or training if we implement the European youthemployment scheme.

We agree with our partners in the Socialists and Democrats groupthat the practice of many European decisions being taken behindclosed doors by national leaders at EU summits, without fullaccountability at national or European level must be rectified.However for the Conservative Government in London to allow itselfto be pressured by UKIP into a referendum was a strategic error. Ifthere was to be a referendum, and the SDLP is not persuaded thatthere should be, it should be after an EU Reform negotiation, not asan upfront commitment regardless of the outcome of thatnegotiation.

Of course, the EU political system is complex and diverse. But it canwork if we use it in the way it was intended, as a democraticinstitutional arrangement respecting national interests and findingcommon interests where possible for the benefit of all its citizens.Whether in foreign affairs, international trade or climate policy, wecan only make an impact and change the world if we work together.

Change will be best achieved from inside the EU. PES membershipbrings with it real influence at the heart of Europe. With the SDLP,there will be strength again in Europe.

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ChANgE FOR ThE BETTER WITh A STRONg EuROPE

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The forthcoming European and Local Government elections will befought on the important issues that affect you, your family and ourentire community.

We need Europe and we need a strong voice in the EuropeanParliament, now more than ever. There is great contention as to thebenefits of Europe and a dangerous, growing euro-scepticism, buteach year European membership is worth £3000 to everyhousehold here in the North. The European Parliament is wheremany key decisions are taken. Europe helps regulate ouragriculture, helps manage our banks and leads on equality.We in the SDLP are proud of our record in Europe.

So it is important, at a time of cutbacks, when hard workingfamilies are struggling that we are well represented in Europe byAlex Attwood, an individual who is known to work hard for thepeople of Northern Ireland.

A vote for Alex Attwood in the European elections will ensure youelect an MEP who works hard to defend and promote yourinterests. His work, and that of his SDLP colleagues, will build abetter future for the North.

I also intend that the SDLP will lead in bringing a new, moremodern, approach to our politics. That includes in Europe, where,with our partners in the Socialists and Democrats grouping, we willwork towards reform and a more accountable system.

The SDLP has a record of delivering accountability. We havedelivered local government reform, something others had failed todo since the call for reform was heard 12 years ago.

In bringing forward local government reform the SDLP has ensuredgreater accountability and openness. Yes, we do not like the 11council model but change is essential if we are to move on fromadversarial politics with its constant bickering and stand-offs toprovide stronger services for the community.

The SDLP will continue to offer a better politics which is aboutpartnership and reaching agreement so that things get done.Whether the issue is new jobs, agriculture, health, education, ortourism, we will work hard to build partnerships that will deliver forpeople on the ground.

If you agree with this approach I hope you will support the SDLP onThursday 22nd May.

Dr alasdair mcDonnell mP

SDLP Leader

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MESSAgE FROM DR ALASDAIR MCDONNELL MP, SDLP LEADER

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These are no ordinary elections.

We have the choice to move forward decisively and vote for hope,ambition and change for the better.

The SDLP is strongly pro-Europe. We would oppose leaving theEuropean Union – it would see our people, businesses and farmerslose out.

Northern Ireland has lost ground in Brussels. We need strengthagain in Europe, with an SDLP MEP as part of the biggest group inthe European Parliament and with the impact and influence that itwill bring.

We need hope again here. People feel let down.Government has failed us. This is what I hear everywhere.

As a lead negotiator on Patten and policing, on Haass/O’Sullivanand as a government minister, being decisive, tough and gettingthings done is how I judged myself. That is what is clearly neededat home and in Europe.

My values are from my Mum and Dad, who taught their fivechildren a responsibility to others. Michael Collins, John Hume,Seamus Mallon, Brid Rodgers and Robert Kennedy shaped myfurther. Now Orla and I try to instil values in our girls for an equal,shared and just future.

The SDLP believes in a deep accommodation between unionismand nationalism.

We stand with working families and people in need.

We reject the favouritism and elitism evident around governmentand other parties.

We seek national reconciliation based on telling the truth of thepast. We cherish all of our people equally.

These are no ordinary elections. Let there be no ordinary outcomes.

Together we can vote and we can shape a politics that is hopeful,bold and decisive, in the North and in Europe.

alex attwood mLa

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MESSAgE FROM EuROPEAN CANDIDATE ALEx ATTWOOD MLA

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What they said about Alex Attwood as a minister:

“At a time when too many ministries were paralysed byindecisions, back biting, inertia and fear Mr Attwood grabbedthe bull by the horns from day one making decisions on arange of tough issues.”

Andersonstown News editorial

“Alex Attwood is a tough act to follow …He made a good starton streamlining planning and wasn’t afraid to take on vestedinterests.”

Liam Clarke, Belfast Telegraph Political Editor

“Alex Attwood is one minister over whose eyes no one pulls thewool. Privately, I guarantee you, Peter Robinson would love tosee the back of him but I have no doubt he admires hiscapacity to forensically interrogate any subject...Doing the jobis what matters…I would want him on my team.”

Eamonn Mallie, Political Journalist

“Alex Attwood is a safe pair of hands, as a minister he hasdone a very good job and is highly competent.”

Martina Purdy, BBC Political Correspondent

“There is universal acceptance that the West Belfast AssemblyMember has emerged as a successful tough and tenaciousperformer at the Executive table.”

Eamonn Mallie, Political Journalist

“Since his appointment earlier this year as Minister at theDepartment for Social Development, we feel that Alex Attwoodhas got the tricky balance between action and planning justabout right.”

Andersonstown News editorial

Alex Attwood, as a councillor, MLA, minister and talks negotiator has a reputation for getting things done at home.Now it’s time for Alex to get things done in Europe.

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At the time of the last European election the effects of the globalfinancial crisis were beginning to bite.

The Eurozone crisis that followed plunged this island into furtherhardship; few businesses and families were left untouched.

The SDLP's partners, the Progressive Alliance of Socialists andDemocrats (S&D group) have fought hard to tackle the impact ofthe crisis over the intervening difficult years.

Along with our S&D group partners we believe Europe requires anindustrial renaissance to cut unemployment and create decent,skilled jobs.

Structural changes will be needed. The most successful economiccountries in the world are those which have fostered agriculture,industry and services together. We are proud that Northern Ireland,like much of Europe, has world-leading service industries, but weneed a better balance to regain strength in our industrial sector.

The S&D group will work for a new European industrial policy tocreate sustainable jobs in new and existing companies.

Over the next five years the real influence of the SDLP within thePES will make us stronger again in Europe and help create changefor the better to create growth and jobs.

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1. ChANgE FOR ThE BETTER FOR gROWTh AND JOBS

The SDLP and the Progressive Alliance of Socialists andDemocrats will fight for a living wage and tackleunemployment by aiming for a 10% increase in the EU andNorthern Ireland employment rates by 2020.

The SDLP wants to quadruple Northern Ireland’s EUresearch funds drawdown and the devolution of fiscalpowers to Northern Ireland to rebalance our economy andaid business.

The SDLP and the Progressive Alliance of Socialists andDemocrats will add a 0.05% Robin Hood tax to financialsector transactions and ensure fixing the banks won’t costtaxpayers.

The SDLP seeks investment in the A5, A6 and Newry reliefroad to boost the construction industry and stimulateregionally balanced economic growth.

The SDLP and the Progressive Alliance of Socialists andDemocrats plan to update Europe’s transport infrastructureimproving key cross-border routes like the Derry-Dublinrailway.

5 Strong commitmEntS to EnSurE cHangE for tHE BEttEr for groWtH anD JoBS

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To tackle unemployment we must implement strong policies whichpromote job creation.

The SDLP is not alone in this aim. Across Europe our colleagues inthe Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats (S&D group)are committed to stronger active labour market policies, whichwould ensure a living wage for all workers, investment in skills, life-long learning and taking more responsibility for job creation.

Our highly-skilled and innovative workforce consistently provescapable of producing the goods. We must reward this achievementby attracting better, more sustainable, high quality jobs throughForeign Direct Investment.

The S&D group aims to introduce an ambitious European industrialpolicy, to support the social economy and small and medium sizedenterprises. As well as promoting innovative green technologies toimprove economic performance. This work in the North must befirmly driven by the Northern Ireland Executive and include a fully-funded sub-regional economic strategy for investment across theNorth, not just a concentration of investment around Belfast.

The S&D group will also work to ensure the labour market isaccessible to all, enabling work places to provide for workers’evolving needs as they age while, benefiting from their knowledgeand experience.

In Ireland, the Department of Enterprise Trade and Investment (DETI)and Invest NI must integrate their long-term strategies for economicgrowth with the Irish Government’s plans to create the bestresearch, innovation and commercialisation ecosystem in Europe,‘The Innovation Island.’

The Socialists and Democrats pledge that the highest priority in thenext European Parliament will be restoring full employment.

Through our leadership in the Department of Social Developmentand latterly the Department of the Environment the SDLP hasensured the decentralisation of public-sector jobs and we remaincommitted to developing the social, economic and environmentalbenefits derived from balanced economic development.

The SDLP will:

• Impress upon the Northern Ireland Executive how imperative it isthat we join in the European wide fight against unemploymentwith the aim of reaching the Europe 2020 target of increasingthe EU and Northern Ireland employment rates by at least 10%in six years.

• Ensure that work programmes and training provision forindividuals currently classed economically inactive provideadequate bespoke support to assist them as they seek to re-enter the job market. A one-size-fits-all approach will notsucceed.

• Make certain the needs of those with disabilities and olderpeople are taken fully into account when providing job andtraining opportunities. This must include adequate financialsupport under the new welfare reform regime and high qualitytraining to benefit both the employee and employer.

• Remain committed to the regionally balanced development anddecentralisation of jobs required to create jobs west of the Bann.

• Promote and exploit the advantages of economic development inborder areas, building on the work of groups like the Irish CentralBorder Network and projects such as the Derry-Donegal cross-border enterprise zone.

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PuTTINg JOBS FIRST RESTORINg FuLL EMPLOYMENT

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The Northern Ireland economy is unbalanced, our private sector,crucially our small and medium sized business sectors, need to grow.A continuation of existing policies will not give the North the step-change required to grow the private sector economy.

The SDLP will challenge orthodoxy and stagnation by:

• Continuing to push for the devolution of corporation tax powers toNorthern Ireland and reducing the corporation tax rate to 12.5%.We acknowledge the risks that have been pointed out, not leastthe potential cost to the Northern Ireland block grant, but webelieve this step can set the local economy on a positive trajectory.

• Correcting Senior Civil Servants attitude to risk and empowerdecision makers by providing for a ‘portfolio’ approach in theassessment of success and failure, acknowledging occasionalfailures to ensure overall success.

• Creating a leadership unit with a high degree of independence,and headed by a person recruited from outside the public service,to identify radical solutions to reform the culture of the senior civilservice and make future decision making easier and faster.

• Fighting for the establishment of a Scottish style commission toassess the extension of devolution and the opportunities to takecontrol of additional fiscal levers. Through this mechanismScotland has succeeded in winning the argument to allow them toborrow money and issue their own bonds. The same powersshould be extended here to enable us to stimulate our privatesector through infrastructure projects.

• Encouraging our Executive partners to produce a new budgetannually to aid discussion, allow for proper assessment ofalternative fiscal ideas and air imaginative proposals that helptowards the development of initiatives to grow the economy.

Most Northern Ireland businesses begin as small enterprises servinglocal markets. It is the SDLP’s vision to ensure that businessesreceive the right help to enable more and more indigenous NorthernIreland companies to become major employers with an internationalreach.

The SDLP will:

• Work with our S&D group partners to reduce bureaucracy thatdelays business growth.

• Continue to support measures to create an environment withinwhich entrepreneurs can thrive through the use of structural fundsand enhanced drawdown of European Investment Bank support forsmall businesses.

• Represent the needs and interests of SMEs across the manyrelevant policy areas. Supporting small business growth should notbe left solely to the Directorate General for Enterprise in Europe andDETI in Northern Ireland.

• Press for the introduction of a similar approach to that of the DublinGovernment regarding the drawdown of EU funding with a largeincrease in resources and dedicated approach for governmentdepartments, further and higher education and businesses(including a single advice portal about access to finance forbusinesses).

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ChANgINg ATTITuDES TO REBALANCE ThEECONOMY

SuPPORTINg OuR SMALL AND MEDIuM SIZEDENTERPRISES (SMES)

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The European Investment Bank and the European Investment Fundcan provide additional sources of funding for council, centralgovernment and third party projects to make Northern Irelandcompetitive in the global marketplace.

The S&D group in the European Parliament aims to extend thelending capacity of the European Investment Bank by €60 billionover the next five years and develop European “project bonds”which could trigger a flow of private capital into real investment.

It is vital that Northern Ireland properly taps into both existinginvestment opportunities and those proposed by the S&D group. Wemust have the necessary infrastructure in place to benefit from theglobal economic upturn as it develops.

The SDLP will:

• Remain committed to the continued development of key Europeantransport routes on the island.

• Press for further funds in addition to the recent investment in theBelfast to Dublin rail service so as to dramatically develop the EUdefined Core Network Corridor between our island’s two majorcities.

• Keep pushing North and South for the development of the A5road. It is a crucial element in enhancing economic developmentand tackling social deprivation in the North-West of the island.

• Continue to emphasise the need to improve the transport linksbetween the North’s two major cities by upgrading the Belfast toDerry railway line and the A6 road.

• Campaign for the inclusion, in the European Commission strategyTEN-T - Connecting Europe, of the much needed Newry relief roadto facilitate further development at Warrenpoint Port and alleviateNewry city centre congestion.

• Facilitate the construction of more high-grade office space to helpencourage high level companies to locate jobs in Northern Ireland.

• Press for the development of more enterprise zones, to assistregionally balanced development and stimulate business growth inareas of high unemployment.

• Help tackle security of supply issues by encouraging the creationof an effective long term energy framework across the island anddevelopment of “renewables” as Ireland’s biggest economicopportunity. This all-island energy framework would allow SMEs toprovide local energy generation systems which would provideviable supply chains for manufacturers and suppliers.

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gROWINg ThE ECONOMY ThROughINFRASTRuCTuRE PROJECTS

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For the North to successfully compete on the world stage we mustharness our knowledge base and invest in our research anddevelopment capacity.

To do this we must maximise our use of the vast potential providedby European research and development funds. At present we arenot doing so effectively. Evidence confirms that per person theNorth drew down only 6% of the funding their counterparts in theRepublic of Ireland attained from the EU’s main fund for research,the Framework 7 programme. In total Dublin has managed to drawdown close to €900 million in funding.

We must emulate the decades of intense work the DublinGovernment has put into securing EU funds, much of which haspaid for large infrastructure projects such as roads but asimportantly has ensured Ireland has a global standing in researchand development sectors such as life and health sciences,pharmaceuticals, biotechnology, information and communicationstechnology and the agri-food industry. We must capture our propershare of the FP7 successor programme, “Horizon 2020” which hasa budget line of €80 Billion for 2014-2020.

The SDLP will:

• Strongly advocate the maximisation of North South co-operationon research and innovation and build on the Irish Government’splans for an ‘Innovation Island.’

• Push for the enhancement of the expertise within Invest NI,government departments, further and higher education and thebusiness sector in order to sharpen the focus on research anddevelopment funding opportunities.

• Encourage development of the work of the Belfast Science Parkand call on DETI to promote and support the new Science Parkin Fort George, Derry.

• Press for the creation of an ‘Open Faculty for Innovation’ toserve as a platform to engage with and encourage our furtherand higher education sector and business to promote innovationacross our education system.

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hARNESSINg OuR RESEARCh AND DEVELOPMENT POTENTIAL

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In 2009 the SDLP highlighted the need to tackle the fundamentalfailures of the economic system and an unregulated global financialmarket that persisted over recent decades.

The intervening years of recession have pressed home the need toreform the European financial markets.

As the Northern Ireland Executive hold no powers over banking, andwith complete disinterest in the specifics of the Northern Irelandbanking system being displayed by the Westminster Government,Northern Ireland has become a banking black hole.

To solve this regulatory gap we must tackle it from a Europeanperspective.

The SDLP will:

• Continue to support the S&D group’s proposals for thedevelopment of an enhanced supervision system for Europe’sbanks and coordinated recovery and resolution rules that allowbanks to capitalise themselves.

• Argue that the recapitalisation of banks must not impose afurther burden on taxpayers and will seek legal action againstbankers whose wrongful practices contributed to the creation ofthe crisis.

• Promote the separation of commercial banks from investmentbanks and their supervision and regulation on a European scale.

• Press for greater transparency of the activities of rating agenciesand the creation of a European rating agency to evaluate thecreditworthiness of states, and counterbalance private ratingagencies.

• Continue our call for the introduction of a ‘Robin Hood tax’, afinancial transaction tax which would be levied at 0.05% on allfinancial product transactions.

The S&D group has ensured many European countries have beenable to introduce this simple mechanism which has the ability toraise up to €200 billion every year, transform public finances andrequire those who caused the financial crisis and were bailed outto pay for the damage they caused.

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FILLINg ThE BANKINg BLACK hOLE

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Northern Ireland is demonstrating its potential to the world. Events likethe Giro d’Italia, the Irish Open, the Derry City of Culture year and theWorld Police and Fire Games have lifted the reputation of the North asa major events and tourism destination.

We must continue to be highly ambitious in selling the North’s uniquebrand of world renowned Irish hospitality.

The NI Tourist Board strategy is sound and demonstrates the greatpotential for growth in our hospitality industry. The SDLP is committedto properly resourcing this strategy to ensure successfulimplementation and delivery of the sector’s aim of doubling tourismrevenues to £1 billion by 2020.

There is no doubt that the Titanic Signature project has proved a hugesuccess. Work must accelerate to further develop the other keysignature projects, Saint Patrick and Christian Heritage, the Mournes,the Causeway Coast and Glens and the Walled City of Derry and tomove towards holistic signature experiences by encouraging theTourist Board in its development of supporting experiences thatprovide depth to the signature experiences.

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PROMOTINg gLOBAL hOSPITALITY AND TOuRISM

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The SDLP is:

• Committed to a reduction of tourism VAT to 5% for the hospitalityindustry, including restaurants and catering services, tourcompanies, hotel and holiday accommodation as is the practice inmost European nations.

• Focused on continuing our work through the Department of theEnvironment (DoE) to promote heritage led tourism developmentwhich has included investment in key historic sites such as theWalls of Derry, the Saint Patrick’s Heritage trail and CarrickfergusCastle.

• Committed to ensuring the necessary funding is provided for furthercapital works directly linked to tourism and the ancillarytransportation and facilities projects.

• Supportive of increasing EU funding of tourism infrastructureprojects, such as the Narrow Water bridge project.

• Committed to further investment in interpretative/narrative productdevelopment, including through sensitive retelling of our recenthistory.

• Supportive of increased investment in training in customer serviceand hospitality to ensure we have people trained to fill thethousands of jobs the industry has the potential to create.

• Keen to ensure the devolution of air passenger duty powers toNorthern Ireland to allow our airports to be price competitive anddraw more of the island’s tourists directly to Northern Ireland.

• Encouraging of the roll-out of the new partnership agreementbetween Tourism Ireland and VisitBritain which will support tourismgrowth in each region through joint planning, data sharing andshared sales missions.

• Eager that visa restrictions do not prevent non-EU tourists travelingwith ease between the North and South of Ireland.

• Supportive of further investment to grow “Irish roots tourism” whichwas boosted by the opening of the new Public Record Officebuilding and the campaign of Tourism Ireland.

• Ambitious to demonstrate Irish tourism potential on the largestpossible global scale by ensuring all necessary resources are madeavailable to the Rugby World Cup 2023 bid team.

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With over a fifth of young people out of work, many more under-employed and thousands having left these shores looking for work,more must be done to create employment, and educationalopportunities for our young people.

As part of the Party of European Socialists the SDLP is proud thatwe have placed the needs of young people at the top of theEuropean political agenda. It is essential for our young people thatthe SDLP is at the heart of this strong voice in the EuropeanParliament.

3 Strong commitmEntS to EnSurE cHangE for

tHE BEttEr for Young PEoPLE

The SDLP is committed to the European Youth Guarantee toprovide a tailored job or training opportunity within 4 monthsof leaving education.

The SDLP seeks better co-ordination between business andeducation to equip the workforce with future science,technology, engineering and maths skills that will attractmore jobs to Northern Ireland and end emigration.

The SDLP seeks an obligation to provide professionalcareers advice to all year 10 and 13 pupils and a teachers-in-business development programme.

FIghT FOR YOuTh JOB CREATION

The SDLP is committed to the implementation of a European YouthGuarantee and a European Youth Employment Programme, thisstrategy to halve youth unemployment by 2020 has already beenadopted in Europe as a result of work by our partners in the S&Dgroup.

This fresh approach to empowering young people was adopted bythe European Commission in April 2013. It aims to provide all under25’s with an individually tailored, concrete offer of a job,apprenticeship, traineeship, or continued education within fourmonths of leaving education or becoming unemployed.

The SDLP will:

• Campaign to ensure the Northern Ireland Executive properlysupport and fund the implementation of a European youthemployment strategy.

• Continue to advocate that other parties follow the SDLP lead andinsert meaningful social clauses to government contracts, sothat the successful contractors would make a reasonablecontribution to work experience for young people andopportunities for the unemployed.

• Highlight the need to remedy and stop zero-hour contracts.

• Ensure that careers education and work experience provision isof the highest standard and focused towards placing youngpeople on career paths in future growth industries.

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2. ChANgE FOR ThE BETTER FOR OuR YOuNg PEOPLE

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Ambition and a focus on our future economic needs are required to liftthe North out of the recession and empower our working population.This fundamental change must start with our education system.

The SDLP wishes to sustain this island’s record of producinggenerations of innovative thinkers with a strong sense ofentrepreneurship.

To make change we must reassess our whole education system withparticular focus on early years and further education.

We must devote further resources to research, innovation and trainingsystems. In the new global climate human resources are our greatestasset so empowering our people through innovation led training is keyto developing our innovation potential.

Enhancing our training provision, developing a much stronger focus onscience, technology, engineering and maths (STEM) and furtherdeveloping graduate apprenticeships is essential to ensure weempower our workforce to make the most of the global economicupswing when it comes.

Our education and training systems are currently failing to provideadequate numbers of skilled workers in key sectors.

There needs to be a co-ordinated approach to the development ofSTEM throughout our education system and more productive linksbetween schools, further and higher education and the businesscommunity.

The SDLP will:

• Support and fund the further development of our universities andpress the Executive to raise the Maximum Student Numbers (MaSN)cap to guarantee the University of Ulster Magee campus grows inline with the One Plan commitment to at least 9400 students by2020.

• Seek to learn lessons from our European partners regardingworkforce development and encourage our further education sectorto learn how FÁS and IDA Ireland successfully equipped theirworkforce to serve the needs of the IT and research science sectors.

• Continue to ensure standards are raised in early years developmentso as to give children the best start in life and provide a strongfoundation for their active involvement in society.

• Extend the provision of free nursery places to all 3 and 4 year oldsand extend the Bright Start programme to private day care providers.

• Promote effective intervention in our schools to address the currentproblems with literacy and numeracy, through particular focus on ourprimary schools and measured intervention in post-primary wherenecessary.

• Seek a statutory obligation that all year 10 and year 13 studentshave an interview with an external careers advisor who can provideprofessional and impartial advice based on up-to-date knowledge ofthe economy.

• Continue to highlight the need for careers education to be an integralpart of post-primary education. Call for careers teachers to hold aformal careers qualification, for the introduction of a teachers-in-industry programme and work placement experience for DEL careeradvisers in order to strengthen schools links with business.

• Press for career education that better relates to future employmenttrends, to help our young people follow the most appropriatepathway and ensure our workforce meets the needs of our changingeconomy.

• Seek constant monitoring and evaluation of our curriculum provisionto ensure our young people develop the appropriate skill set to meetthe demands of a changing society.

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IMPROVINg EDuCATION AND SKILLS

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Northern Ireland needs a strong rural economy to thrive and grow.Despite the global recession the island’s agri-food industry hasbeen a great success story in recent years.

The SDLP has demonstrated our commitment to rural farmingcommunities both in the Assembly and on the Environment andRural Affairs Committee in Westminster, where the one memberfrom Northern Ireland is the SDLP South Down MP, MargaretRitchie.

In Europe we will work closely with the Dublin Government to fightfor the needs of the island’s farmers. It is imperative that we makeour voice heard in conjunction with our Dublin counterparts as theybetter understand and care about the needs of our farmers than theBritish Government.


tHE BEttEr for agricuLturE, fiSHEriES anD

ruraL communitiES

The SDLP seeks the development of family farm based ruralcommunities and favour a single zone region for CAP Pillar 1with a 4 year transition.

The SDLP and the Progressive Alliance of Socialists andDemocrats have secured EU climate change targets and wewill bring forward an ambitious Northern Ireland climatechange strategy.

The SDLP will oppose planning applications for fracking asproof it can be done safely and responsibly does not exist.

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3. ChANgE FOR ThE BETTER FOR AgRICuLTuRE, FIShERIES AND RuRAL COMMuNITIES

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FARMINg AND AgRICuLTuRE

The SDLP supports productive farming conducted in a sustainableand environmentally sensitive way. We strive to underpin familybased farming and economically viable rural communities.

European Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) support for farmingmust be tailored to help sustain and grow quality farm productionacross the region that is financially viable for the primary producersin dairying, beef and sheep production, industrialised chicken andpig production, as well as tillage and fruit and vegetable growers.

It is imperative that we adequately support our farmers and put inplace a stronger agri-food strategy that supports all farmers inorder to ensure food security in the face of growing global demand. The British Government threaten to pull out of Europe, a stance theNorth’s other main parties support, with no thought of the impacton the rural farming economy. We are committedly pro-European asit has been good for our farming rural community.

The SDLP will:

• Prioritise an all-island approach during the CAP reformimplementation to get the best deal for the Irish farmer.

• Fight to ensure the new CAP deal must strike the right balancebetween support for area-based provision and farm productionrelated activities, as well as having some enhanced grantsupport for those farmers that work on the less productive,higher land.

• Continue to implement pro rural community, pro farming familyplanning policies.

• Commit to ensuring our growing agri-food sector is protectedand nurtured for future growth and that Going for Growthensures investment across all sectors, sheep, cattle and poultryproduction.

• Support the continuation of sustainable farming which helpsmaintain the countryside and contributes to rural development.

• Work for fair and reduced regulation, not further bureaucracy.

• Strongly advocate for the maximisation of North South co-operation in the whole field of agriculture and food processing,including the funding and acceleration of the work of the North’sGoing for Growth plan and its alignment with the comprehensiveHarvest 2020 strategy of the Dublin Government.

• Press Department of Agriculture and Rural Development (DARD)to develop a more robust approach to eradicating Bovine TB.

• Pursue protections for smaller farmers on an all-island basis forenvironmental as well as economic reasons. It’s in all ourinterests to remain able to buy local produce.

• Strive to ensure the rural environment remains a place in whichpeople wish to live and work.

• Work to see that farm production activities are not impeded bycumbersome administration and needless bureaucracy forfarmers.

• Support the increase in funding for countryside management,agri-environment schemes and planning policies that supportfarm families and rural communities.

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FIShERIES

The SDLP is strongly committed to the protection of fisheries andthe fishing industry.

DARD must develop a comprehensive fishing development plan forthe fishing industry that supports an onshore fish processingindustry and is within agreed EU Common Fisheries Policyobjectives.

To do so the Executive must support DARD to fight for thedevolution of fisheries policy to the Assembly as, like agriculture,the Northern Ireland fishing industry has very different needs to thatof its English counterparts.

It is important that the introduction of regionalisation, which weunderstand will follow from the review of the Common FisheriesPolicy, delivers a sustainable and profitable fishing industry for theNorthern Ireland fleet and onshore industry.

Opportunities for other marine and coastal development need to begrasped. These include the fishing fleet involvement in offshoreindustry, the DoE fund for coastal communities and action plans forcoastal areas that can see growth around our marine and naturalheritage, coastal life and tourism and hospitality.

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DARD is a massive resource for the rural community but one thatmust be deployed and utilised more effectively.

Over the past decade DARD has become removed from the farmingcommunity, it is less farmer friendly, and fails to fully respond to theneeds of our agri-food sector.

In order to build on our strong agri-food sector DARD must moveaway from its current bureaucratic enforcement model towards anenabling support for farmers. The DoE, SDLP proposal for a BetterRegulation Bill, pursuing those most in non-compliance and anintegrated permitting enforcement regime, is an example of howthis could be undertaken.

Northern Ireland agriculture and the food-processing industry willonly develop further and maximise its potential if DARD is reformedwith a focus on farming advisory activities.

The inabilities of DARD and DETI to deliver for our farming economyare evidenced by the hold-up in publishing an agri-foodimplementation plan despite the publication of an Agri-FoodStrategy report in May 2013.

An example of DARD’s failure is that Northern Ireland is one of theonly regions that will not be able to avail of upfront advance partpayment of the Single Farm Payment scheme, an example ofDARD’s administrative systems failing the interests of our farmingcommunity once again.

The SDLP will:

• Press for the restructuring of DARD to meet farmer advisoryneeds and provide better support services to the farmingcommunity.

• Work for the reform and streamlining of DARD to deliver moreeffective computer and administrative systems for processingSingle Farm Application CAP payments.

• Press DARD and DETI to fully implement the Agri-Food strategyalong with an agri-food implementation plan that sets targetsand timelines and has dedicated, allocated funding.

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RADICAL REFORM OF DARD

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Rural development must strike a balance between the farmer andagriculture, alongside the need to provide essential and tailoredservices and facilities to support rural based living whileunderpinning a strong community spirit.

Rural development EU funding should be co-matched withExecutive money to tailor a range of agri-business initiatives toinclude capital grants for farm buildings, fencing and drainageschemes as well as agriculture related rural business development.

The SDLP believes:

• The DARD Rural White Paper should be acted on and placed ona statutory basis. Thus rural voluntary and community basedsupport services, notably community care and local transportneeds, would be given sustainable long term funding. Thisshould be carried out alongside other government funding forsport and cultural facilities.

• DARD should rollout a similar project for rural communities tothe neighbourhood renewal programme through which the SDLPachieved success for communities while responsible for SocialDevelopment.

• A small schools policy should be introduced to protect ruralschools; the heart of local rural communities.

Renewable energy is the single biggest economic opportunity forthis island. It is essential that we support growth and innovation inrenewable energy so to be at the cutting edge of research anddevelopment.

Renewables will make a significant contribution to the jobs market,energy security and to our environmental efforts and the transitionto a low carbon economy can be developed in a way that respectsand benefits local communities.

The SDLP is one of the strongest voices advocating this approach.We believe the North can become self-sufficient in electricity, developservice clusters and service jobs around the industry, be at thecutting edge of research and development and see our engineeringindustry grow and prosper through renewables construction. Thispotential is evidenced by the fact that the tidal plant in StrangfordLough already makes us a world leader in tidal power research. Asclimate change remains a growing threat, it should act as a call toaction to reduce emissions and expand renewables.

The SDLP continues to:

• Work to progress law and policy on the threat of climate changeincluding the development of an ambitious climate change strategy.

• Reform planning to help process renewable energy applications.

• Seek EU research and development funding for renewables,particularly from Horizon 2020.

• Work with the British-Irish Council to seek out opportunities forall its members, particularly in the EU, for renewable energygrowth and development.

• Set challenging emission reduction targets noting that the scaleof agricultural emissions is still being determined.

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RuRAL DEVELOPMENT RENEWABLE ENERgY

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Through our strong ministerial leadership of the Department of theEnvironment the SDLP continues to work for the highestenvironmental standards, making strides to improve environmentalprotection where many ministers before us failed to act.

The SDLP has ensured stronger future protection for our marineenvironment through the passing of the Marine Act.

We have reduced the environmental impact of discarded single usecarrier bags through the introduction of a carrier bag levy. Moneyraised by that levy, at least £2.2m this year, is provided to a ChallengeFund; a people’s fund which enables communities, schools andenvironmental NGOs across the North to carry out projects withpractical benefits for the environment.

We have established new enforcement mechanisms to tackleenvironmental crime by setting up an innovative strategic partnershipbetween a fully reformed Northern Ireland Environment Agency (NIEA)and the PSNI. We will introduce a Better Regulation Bill to give NIEAuniform inspection powers and the ability to issue one streamlinedintegrated permit to a business. This will ensure compliantbusinesses are freed of red tape and receive fewer inspections whilethe poor and non-compliant will get far more attention from NIEA.

We will continue our work on tackling climate change by bringingforward an ambitious climate change strategy which will lay thegroundwork for the introduction of a Northern Ireland Climate Change Bill.

We will bring forward legislation to enhance road safety, particularlyamong new, young and rural drivers to reduce the number of injuriesand deaths on our roads.

The SDLP is proud that our partners in the Socialists and Democratsgroup in the European Parliament are committed to Europeanenvironmental protection. In partnership with them the

SDLP will:

• Bring forward legislation to support renewable energies andincrease energy efficiency through both public and privateinvestment.

• Redirect big proportions of EU funding programmes includingstructural funds, European Social Funds, the FrameworkPrograms for Research and Technological Development and theTrans-European Networks Programme to green jobs and growth.

• Work to support green energy producers and those creatinggreen jobs and growth by enabling them to be more competitive.

• Develop a European strategy for matching workforce skills withthe needs of the Green Tech sector as well as developing aEurope-wide database for high skilled green jobs.

• Equip large green growth projects through the EuropeanInvestment Bank, which is of particular importance given thefailure of the Executive to properly fund a Northern Ireland GreenNew Deal.

• Work for ambitious statutory re-cycling targets.

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ENVIRONMENT

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The SDLP is privileged to be part of the Progressive Alliance ofSocialists and Democrats grouping (S&D group) in the EuropeanParliament which is fundamentally committed to ensuring that no-one is left behind.

Many people in Northern Ireland are currently feeling the strain, bethat in relation to unemployment, welfare cuts or changes to healthprovision.

The SDLP is committed to tackling these issues to lift some of theburden off our hard pressed households.

We are acutely aware of the pressure negative equity and the lackof nursery school provision for all children is placing on low-incomehouseholds.

As the only Assembly party to vote against both the increase inpension age for public servants and the reduction of redundancypay for civil servants, many of who are low paid, we havedemonstrated our commitment to protecting hard pressedhouseholds.

This is of special importance given the cuts being imposed onNorthern Ireland by the Westminster Tory Government and the rightwing policies of the DUP in Northern Ireland’s Health and SocialDevelopment Ministries.


tHE BEttEr for HarD PrESSED HouSEHoLDS

The SDLP believes house building targets for social andaffordable homes must be doubled to tackle the North’shousing crisis.

The SDLP is committed to supporting hard working families,will stand against welfare reform and will not accept theprinciple of a bedroom tax.

The SDLP believes there is an urgent need to review theimplementation of the “Transforming Your Care” changeson-going in the health service.

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4. ChANgE FOR ThE BETTER FOR hARD PRESSED hOuSEhOLDS

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The SDLP has long been associated with the campaign for decenthomes. The provision of social housing has again become highlypoliticised.

The actions of the current Social Development Minister, usingwelfare reform as a smokescreen for hacking away at the NorthernIreland Housing Executive, is a sign of the DUP ties to a Tory cutsagenda and their determination to re-politicise housing allocations.

When responsible for Social Development the SDLP defended therecord of achievement of the Housing Executive. We also exposedmalpractice in the some parts of the Executive, instigating afundamental review of the Executive and into abuses inmaintenance contracts.

That commitment to openness and fairness should be continued.Instead thorough equality screening of Department of SocialDevelopment (DSD) policies is being avoided by the current ministerthrough the instigation of pilot projects.

Everyone longs to have a decent affordable home that allows themto live in their local community. A warm home is also widelyrecognised as a key component of good health outcomes.

Additionally increasing the number of social houses built wouldprovide a significant boost to the construction industry and socialclauses in house building contracts, put in place by the SDLP,means that the successful contractors must make a reasonablecontribution to work experience for young people and opportunitiesfor the unemployed.

The SDLP believes:

• The Northern Ireland Housing Executive must remain thestrategic regional housing authority.

• The Housing Executive and the housing associations sectorrequire reform but it is essential that DUP are not able todismantle the Executive and that we do not return to unfairnessin housing allocation.

• The system of housing allocation must continue to operate onthe basis of objective housing need, the most vulnerable must beprotected and prioritised, and housing allocations must continueto be made under the principle of fairness and equity.

• The new build social housing targets need to be doubled in orderto meet housing need.

• Areas of greatest housing need must receive priorityconsideration when new projects are being planned and funded.

• A DSD commitment to social housing provision would providesecurity to thousands of working families who currently suffer asa result of the insecure nature of private tenancies.

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hOuSINg

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Like our S&D group partners in Europe the SDLP is fundamentallycommitted to supporting those hard-working households, olderpeople and individuals with disabilities who require additionalsupport from government.

We are deeply concerned that major aspects of the CoalitionGovernment’s welfare reform agenda are having and will continueto have a significant detrimental impact on our community,especially the working poor.

It is undeniable that welfare support requires constant monitoring,certain parts of the system are failing to function as best they couldand some reform is required, particularly in eliminating the ‘benefitstrap’ to enable people to move off benefits and into work.

However it must also be recognised that the Coalition Governmentreform plans will impact more severely in Northern Ireland given ourhistorically high levels of disadvantage, lower paid workforce, ahigher proportion of families with children and a higher number ofindividuals in receipt of Disability Living Allowance.

The SDLP will work on the upcoming Assembly legislation toattempt to mitigate the negative impacts and will continue to pressthe Northern Ireland Executive to make opposition to a wide rangeof the welfare reforms the highest Executive priority. For example,the SDLP will not accept the principle of a bedroom tax.

The Executive must collectively and robustly negotiate with theCoalition Government to pursue all possible legal and operationalflexibilities within Universal Credit and for financial support tomitigate the negative impact of welfare cuts and changes imposedon Northern Ireland.

The SDLP was founded on the principle of equality and rights for allcitizens and this philosophy continues in our work today. For thatreason we are proud that our partners in the S&D group are alsoworking to enhance social inclusion for all generations. Humanrights, enshrined in the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights, are justas important as social, economic or environmental progress in theEurope we want to build.

In Northern Ireland there is currently not sufficient legislation toprotect the rights of children and older people in accessingservices, including healthcare services.

Comparable legislation is in place in most countries in Europe andthis inequality must be addressed by the NI Assembly.

In order to best support and protect our children and older peoplethe SDLP believes legislation must be brought forward to prohibitage discrimination in the provision of goods, facilities and services.In this spirit the SDLP will also work in Europe to progress “Towardsan age-friendly EU by 2020”, promote active and healthy aging andto create greater societal understanding of the needs of dementiasufferers, their family and carers in order to improve the quality oflife of people with dementia.

We also wish to see the Health Minister’s decision to refuse to liftthe ban on blood donations from gay or bisexual men overturned. Itis imperative that European Directive 2004/33/EEC regarding thetechnical requirements for blood and blood components is followed.

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WELFARE REFORM RIghTS

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There is genuine and justified public anxiety about the currentcondition of our Health Service. Changes in the Health Service havecome to be associated not with improvement but more often withcut-backs, confusion and inconsistency.

The recent crises experienced in our A&E departments can belinked to the confusion within management of emergency serviceprovision and the confusion amongst the public as to how best toaccess the appropriate level of care.

Given that no consultation was undertaken prior to theimplementation of Transforming Your Care and the subsequentproblems that have occurred it is imperative that a progress reviewis instigated to ensure accountability and transparency.

The SDLP seeks reform of the outdated health service recruitmentprocesses for doctors to ensure adequate provision of staff for allour hospitals, particularly in rural areas. This would avoid furtherproblems like the difficulties experienced by the Downe Hospital inrecruiting middle grade doctors.

Work must be undertaken to expand primary care provision toreduce GP waiting times and build trust in community healthcareinitiatives so to ease the pressure on A&E services. Only when thishappens will patient outcomes improve.

The SDLP, fearful of the type of crises we have witnessed withinfrontline health service provision this year, rejected the 2011 NIAssembly Budget because of its failure to focus sufficient resourcestoward frontline health services and health service jobs.

The SDLP recognises the need for modernisation of our healthservice provision and support the implementation of reasonablemeans of achieving efficiency savings in health serviceadministration but this must not come at the expense of the patient.

All savings made through efficiency savings elsewhere in the healthservice must be reallocated to frontline services.

The SDLP is committed to the three patient-centred principleswhich underpin the European Cancer Patient’s Bill of Rights:

1. The right of every citizen to receive the most accurateinformation and to be proactively involved in his or her care.

2. The right of every citizen to optimal and timely access toappropriate specialised care, underpinned by research andinnovation.

3. The right of every citizen to receive care in health systems thatensure improved outcomes, patient rehabilitation, best quality oflife and healthcare.

These principles are especially important as Northern Irish patientsare currently not receiving equality in access to care whencompared to patients in England and Wales who have access to anadditional 38 life extending drugs.

This is particularly troublesome given that Queen’s UniversityBelfast are at the cutting edge of life and health science researchand have recently made another breakthrough in ovarian and breastcancer.

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TRANSFORMINg YOuR CARE SuPPORT FOR CANCER PATIENTS

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The SDLP is committed to greater action on preventative health andkeeping people out of hospital. Today, more than 60% of adults and25% of children here are either overweight or obese. By 2020, thenumber of adults living with high blood pressure, coronary heartdisease, strokes and diabetes (Type 1 and Type 2) will haveincreased by around 30%.

Those leading health reforms in Northern Ireland must aspire toincrease the total percentage of the health budget to match andthen overtake by 2020 the EU average of 4% to ensure long-termhealth improvement, health protection and the social wellbeing ofpeople in this region.

This type of spending can also provide for an ‘upstream’ focus onprevention and health improvement and support for those withlong-term conditions and chronic pain.

This preventative spending is essential if we are to reduce thefinancial, personal and social costs to patients and our health andsocial care system. Much of this reduction can be achieved throughimproved investment in primary care.

It is also important to ensure the public are more aware of theimpact their lifestyle and environment have on their health. Byencouraging and enabling people to adopt healthier eating anddrinking habits, do more exercise and give up smoking we canimprove health outcomes.

In order to achieve this an Executive programme fund should becreated to kick start a long-term, cross-departmental preventativehealth strategy and to better link the work of the Department ofHealth in tackling health inequality with the fragmented and attimes questionable work of other departments, particularly theOffice of First and deputy First Minister.

The SDLP is focused on the elimination of inequalities that meanpeople living in more deprived areas are more likely to be affectedby chronic health conditions.

The SDLP’S commitment to job creation, improving educationalattainment and consequently career prospects, our campaign todouble social housing construction and our commitment to fightingthe welfare reform proposals coming from Westminster will all helptackle health inequalities and must be undertaken in conjunctionwith better preventative health planning.

We also require thorough rural proofing of our health serviceprovision to address the problems of access to health services inrural areas of the North, especially areas West of the Bann.

This is essential given the problems that have been experienced inproviding sufficient numbers of middle grade doctors in hospitalslike the Downe and the difficulties of providing adequate ambulanceresponse times in rural areas.

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INVESTMENT IN PREVENTATIVE hEALTh hEALTh INEQuALITIES

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Working across borders, sharing knowledge and resources, andsolving common problems are key principles for EU health researchand innovation and principles we must commit to on this island.The Department of Health North-South Feasibility Study publishedin 2011 after a two-year delay was the first and so far onlysubstantive example of all-island health policy collaboration.It is important that the positive recommendations of that strategyare now implemented to begin working towards future delivery ofhealth in an all-Ireland context.

North-South co-operation is central in addressing challenges likelong waiting lists, particularly in border areas and the need toupgrade or replace existing infrastructure.

Joint strategic planning can ensure that the best possible use ismade of resources and that overall, a first class health service isprovided to people throughout the island in both urban and ruralcommunities.

The Health Minister has already made some progress with hisDublin counterpart in providing paediatric cardiac services on anall-island basis while retaining some services in Belfast. The SDLPencourages further assessment and decisions of areas whereeconomies of scale could provide specialist services on an all-island basis which otherwise cannot be provided on the island,such as specialist treatment for eating disorders.

This would be a vastly superior alternative to the emotionally andfinancially costly option of flying patients to England for treatment.With over 40% of the island’s public finance expended on health,and the need to improve services and do so at best value, adynamic all-Ireland health approach is vital.

Innovation in healthcare research has the potential to benefitsociety in a number of ways. Investment in life and health sciencesresearch, such as the expansion of facilities at Queen’s Universityand the Clinical Translational Research and Innovation Centre inDerry have already demonstrated the potential for job creation.

However of much greater importance is the potential improvementin health outcomes which can result from healthcare innovation inareas such as drug development and medical technologies.Additionally improving and adequately supporting internet E-healthhas the potential to save money and provide increased ease-of-access to healthcare services for patients.

The SDLP aims to make Automated External Defibrillators (AEDs)easily accessible to everyone, particularly those involved withsporting activities. We would welcome a European wide strategywhich educates the general public on the potential benefits of AEDsand increases availability of these life-saving machines.

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CROSS-BORDER hEALTh CO-OPERATION hEALTh INNOVATIONS

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The EU is one of the greatest examples of conflict resolution inhistory. In Northern Ireland we too must seek to move on fromconflict to achieve collective prosperity. This requires a strong,influential voice at the heart of Europe.

To embed peace in Northern Ireland a meaningful prosperityprocess, creating well-paid jobs, curtailing youth unemploymentand halting emigration is a necessity.

However this will not work alone, it must be done in tandem withrefocusing on the need to confront the contentious issues stilloutstanding from the Good Friday Agreement, which theHaass/O’Sullivan process attempted to tackle.

The SDLP will continue to work with the other parties to achievepositive outcomes on those key outstanding issues of tensionthrough the implementation of the outcomes of the Haass/O’Sullivan process and the introduction of legislation.

Within this work towards legislation the SDLP will ensure thatsustained, face-to-face, genuine dialogue remains the primarymeans to address differences over parades and the key principlesof rights, responsibilities and relationships are firmly respected andembedded in a strong code of conduct for parading thatcomprehensively deals with how people conduct themselves on thepublic highway, not least outside homes, schools and churches.While no agreement has yet been achieved on the display of flagsthe SDLP will continue to work for legislation to tackle the blight ofunofficial and illegal flags.

We will continue to support the establishment of a commission onidentity, culture, and tradition as proposed in the Haass/O’Sullivanprocess, supported by the full engagement of the two governments.The strongest part of the Haass/O’Sullivan process was not the parties, the governments or the facilitation. It was the input of civicsociety, who yet again, demonstrated a strong desire for resolution.None did this more clearly than victims and survivors. It is for themand wider civic society that we must not let the progress made inthe Haass/O’Sullivan process to deal comprehensively and ethicallywith the past slip away.

The SDLP remains steadfastly committed to creating a sharedfuture for all our citizens. All those in leadership positions inNorthern Ireland must develop ambition far above the baseline ofworking for what best suits one half of the community or the other.


tHE BEttEr for our SHarED iDEntitY

The SDLP wants to address the past comprehensively andethically, demands strong parades legislation, calls forgreater recognition of our identities and traditions and seeksequality on official flags. We support the Haass/O’Sullivanproposal for a “Commission on Identify.”

We in the SDLP are committed pro-Europeans and proudinternationalists. We will protect human rights and seek arobust, updated NI race equality law.

The SDLP continues to seek the introduction of Acht naGaeilge and full OFMDFM reporting on progress inimplementing the European Language Charter.

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5. ChANgE FOR ThE BETTER FOR OuR ShARED IDENTITY

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The SDLP is committed to combatting crime and creating safercommunities for all through the further embedding of communitypolicing.

All those in leadership in the North must be steadfastly committedto addressing our past and unwaveringly focused on combattingcrime and ensuring safer communities for everybody.

RACE RELATIONS

The SDLP has long campaigned for and supported the rights ofpeople from across Europe and beyond who now live and work inthe North.

Given the sad fact that racist attacks and intimidation still occur alltoo often, it is essential that government demonstrates leadershipto tackle racism.

The SDLP believes it is essential that the long overdue replacementto the 2005 racial equality strategy is brought forward, funded byan associated minority ethnic development fund and underpinnedby updated and robust race equality law.

This island stands to learn much from partnership practice betweenEuropean jurisdictions and one notable area where furtherpartnership must be developed is cross-border policing.

Cross-border partnership must continue to be strengthened anddeepened as part of the strategy to confront the dissidents andserious organised crime, such as illegal fuel, waste and milksmuggling and to demonstrate the benefits of enhanced North-South integration throughout this island.

The SDLP has demonstrated such cross-border partnership throughtheir work in the Department of the Environment, taking a strategicall-island approach to tackling environmental crime and by workingto achieve an all-island road safety strategy which aims to bettersupport young drivers and reduce to zero the number of tragedieswhich occur on Ireland’s roads.

We will continue to work with both the Dublin and LondonGovernments to tackle serious and organised crime. We holdsignificant concerns as to the role of the National Crime Agency andthe funding cuts for specialised services such as tackling childexploitation that resulted from its establishment. We will continue toensure that this supersized agency is properly held to account inNorthern Ireland.

The SDLP is committed to tackling human trafficking. We willsupport the human trafficking and exploitation legislationprogressing through the Assembly and will work to ensure thisregion fulfils its obligations under the European Convention againstTrafficking.

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COMMuNITY SAFETY CROSS-BORDER SAFETY

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ACCESS TO JuSTICE

The SDLP acknowledges the need to reduce spending on legal aidhowever this cannot occur in a way that undermines basic accessto justice. We oppose much of what is being proposed in thecriminal legal aid reforms particularly the proposals to reducefunding for family and children’s services.

The SDLP will work to ensure the Department of Justice reforms tolegal aid do not adversely affect a wide section of ordinary peopleas they attempt to access assistance in claims for accidents atwork, serious road accidents, and particularly support when takingfamily law and children’s cases.

INTERNATIONAL

Along with being proud Europeans we in the SDLP are proudinternationalists. We owe much to the international community forthe assistance provided to Northern Ireland in the past half centuryand we will continue to play a committed part in international affairshaving long advocated international development issues at all levelsof government.

The EU must remain at the forefront of advancing peace andsustainable social and economic development worldwide. We are proud to be members of the Party of European Socialistswho are deeply involved in international issues and we will workwith their Foreign Policy Network to keep global shared prosperity,human rights and human dignity at the centre of EU discourse.Europe has a major role to play on the international scene and canbe influential in global human rights issues such as working forPalestinian statehood and a peaceful resolution to addressingpeace in the region through a two state solution.

IMMIgRATION

As committed internationalists the SDLP respects the basic valuesof the European Union and the principle of free movement ofworkers within its borders.

Rather than allowing Euro sceptic parties, particularly UKIP, toindulge in rhetoric exploiting peoples’ worst fears we must work toaddress issues while standing firmly by the common basic principlesof immigrant integration policy within the European Union.

This includes acknowledging that integration is a dynamic, two-wayprocess of mutual accommodation from all immigrants andresidents of member states. For example, encouraging migrants tohave a basic knowledge of our society and language while ensuringwe provide access to education and services is essential for mutualrespect and successful integration.

Sadly at the moment the island of Ireland is once again seeing netout-migration and many of our young people are seeking thebenefits of employment in other EU states.

The Irish diaspora is a great example of the contribution immigrantsmake to host societies. The SDLP will always welcome immigrantsto Northern Ireland, particularly those currently helping us fill ourskills gaps.

It is essential we address the wider problem of unemployment toincrease employment opportunities for both those that grew uphere and economic migrants to Northern Ireland.

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CuLTuRE

Ireland has a rich creative, linguistic and artistic heritage and manyNorthern Irish poets, authors, musicians and artists are worldrenowned. The SDLP is committed to continued support forcommunity arts and for the development of our artistic talents intoeconomic drivers in tourism and the creative industries. A greatexample of this was the success of the Derry City of Culture year,which demonstrated the enormous potential of the North’s uniqueidentity in encouraging cultural tourism.

CREATIVE INDuSTRIES

As a proud supporter of the arts the SDLP wishes to build on theeconomic success of our creative industries. The talent of ourartists has led many large international companies to base projectsin Northern Ireland.

We must build on this potential. As every £1 invested by the ArtsCouncil generates a return of over £3 to the local economy wemust better nurture business entrepreneurship within our artscommunity so to develop a sustainable indigenous creative industryin Northern Ireland, which is boosted by, and not dependent on,international investment.

The SDLP will:

• Encourage our arts community to develop future focused skills todevelop the potential of our creative industry.

• Ensure that the voice of local creative industry groups andindividuals is heard in Europe, particularly regarding draftlegislation that may follow on from the “European CommissionCommunication on Promoting Cultural and Creative Sectors forGrowth and Jobs in the EU.”

• Aim to maximise the amount of monies drawn down from EUfunding streams for culture events and arts festivities in theNorth of Ireland by raising awareness of available funds such asthe newly established Creative Europe Programme 2014-2020and Horizon 2020.

• Highlight the utmost importance of complementary skills in theSTEM (Science, Technology, Education and Maths) subjects toour young aspiring artists.

• Ensure schools are able to provide more arts services inconjunction with STEM learning.

INCLuSION

Tackling social isolation is a key priority for the SDLP and werecognise the potential of the arts to bring people of all agestogether.

The Europe 2020 Strategy aims to tackle poverty and socialexclusion, particularly among older people, and the SDLP will workwith the task force to ensure better linking and understandingbetween generations and through increased intergenerationalopportunities, particularly in the arts.

The SDLP will promote the need for a dedicated women’s measurein European programmes to address women’s inequalities in linewith United Nations Security Council Resolution 1325 (2000).

The SDLP believes in protecting children and vulnerable youngpeople from cyber bullying and wish to see the continuation of theEU #DeleteCyberbullying project and will encourage the NorthernIreland Executive to engage with this exchange of best practice.

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ERASMuS+

Building on the successful student exchange programme Erasmus,the EU has recently established the Erasmus+ programme combiningall the EU's current schemes for education, training, youth and for thefirst time, sport.

The SDLP is keen to ensure Northern Ireland makes the most of thisnew €14.7 billion catch-all framework program with its simplifiedfunding mechanisms. It is important that Northern Ireland works tomatch the EU's 40% increase investment commitment in these areas.

Erasmus+ will support transnational partnerships among education,training, and youth institutions and organisations to foster cooperationand bridge the worlds of education. It is important we use this as avehicle to tackle Northern Ireland’s skills gaps.

LANguAgE EQuALITY

The SDLP welcomes the growing language diversity in NorthernIreland. While we acknowledge that most of the languages in growinguse here are minority languages only in the context of NorthernIreland, we welcome the multiculturalism that this diversity signifies.

We are committed to improving the provision of support for allminority language groups, and in particular improving the status ofIrish, the respect given to the language and the image of the languagein the community.

The SDLP will keep pressing for the full implementation ofcommitments relating to the Irish language, notably the EuropeanCharter for Regional and Minority Languages. We will continue ourwork on an Irish Language Act in the Northern Ireland Assembly whichwill fulfil the rights of Irish speakers.

Irish became an official language of the European Union on 1 January2007. However due to the lack of language experts at the timerestrictions were put in place on the amount of information required tobe provided in Irish.

Thankfully the initial lack of language experts no longer exists so it isimportant that when the derogation ends in 2017 Irish is treated on apar with the other 24 official European languages.

This will create a substantial long-term benefit for the influence ofIreland in the European Union, as a certain proportion of people takingthese jobs may eventually move onto jobs with responsibility for policyareas in the European Union.

The SDLP will:

• Press OFMDFM to respect the Irish language by fully engaging withand reporting on their progress, measured against the EuropeanCharter for Regional and Minority Languages and their obligationsto support Ulster-Scots.

• Work with the Irish Government to ensure they submit an officialrequest to the European Union not to renew the derogation on theIrish language.

• Highlight the job creation potential of this move: 180+ high valuejobs would be made available between now and 2017.

• Press the Irish Government and Department of Culture in the Northto establish a recruitment campaign between now and 2017 toensure staff are in place for 2017 to fill the jobs which will becreated.

• Continue to work closely with practitioners and communityrepresentatives to take forward legislation to allow provision andsupport for the development and use of the Irish Language.

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Cuireann an SDLP fáilte roimh fhás éagsúlacht theangacha idTuaisceart Éireann. Cé go bhfuil úsáid teangacha mionlaí ag dul iméid anseo, agus nach teangacha mionlaí lasmuigh de ThuaisceartÉireann iad, cuirimid fáilte roimh an éagsúlacht ilchultúir isinchiallaithe iontu seo.

Táimid tiománta do sholáthar tacaíochta lucht labharthas nadteangacha mionlaí ar fad, ach go háirithe, stádas na Gaeilge, anmeas ina léith agus a híomhá i measc an phobail a bhísiú.

Leanfaidh an SDLP ag teannadh ar fhorfheidhmiú na ngealltanas iléith na Gaeilge, ach go háirithe an Chairt Eorpach um TeangachaReigiúnda agus Mionlaí. Leanfaimid lenár gcuid oibre ar Acht naGaeilge i dTionól Thuaisceart Éireann a chomhlíonfaidh cearta phobalna Gaeilge.

Tugadh aitheantas don Ghaeilge mar theanga oifigiúil de chuid anAontais Eorpaigh ar 1 Eanáir 2007. De thoradh an easpa sáineolaitheteanga um an dtaca sin, cuireadh sraonadh i bhfeidhm ar an mhéideolais a bhí a dhíth chun soláthar trí Ghaeilge.

Ar an dea-uair níl easpa sáineolaithe anois ann agus is den tábhacht éar chríoch an mhaolaithe i 2017 go nglacfar leis an Ghaeilge archomhchéim leis an 24 teanga oifigiúil eile de chuid an AontaisEorpaigh.

Rachaidh seo chun sochair fadthéarmach thionchair na hÉireann sanAontas Eorpach go mbeidh méid áirithe daoine a thógfaidh na poistseo agus a bhogfaidh, i ndeireadh dála, isteach i bpoist a bhfuilfreagracht ar limistéir polaisithe ag baint leo laistigh den AontasEorpach.

• Cuirfidh an SDLP brú ar OFMDFM(OPA/OLPA) dileagla a bheith acuar an Ghaeilge trí thuairisciú ar dhul chun cinn de réir bearta AnChairt Eorpach um Theangacha Regiúnda agus Mionlaí agus deréir a n-oibligeadaí tacú leis an Ultais.

• Oibriú le Rialtas na hÉireann le cinnte a dhéanamh de go ndéanfarachainí oifigiúil ar an Aontas Eorpach gan athnuachan a dhéanamhar an mhaolú ar an Ghaeilge.

• Béim a chur ar acmhainn chruthaithe fostaíochta na seifte seo: gogcruthófar 180+ post idir an t-am seo agus 2017.

• Brú a chur ar Rialtas na hÉireann agus ar Roinn an Chultúir saTuaisceart le feachtas fostaíochta a chur ar bun idir an t-am seoagus 2017 le cinnte a dhéanamh de go mbeidh foireann réidh i2017 leis na poist a chruthófar a líonadh.

• Go leanfar ag obriú go dlúth le cleachtoirí agus le hionadaithepobal rachtaíocht a thabhairt chun cinn le forálacha a éascú agusle tacú ar fhorbairt agus ar úsáid na Gaeilge.

• Déanamh cinnte de go mbeidh Stráitéis na Gaeilge foilsithe aguscurtha i bhfeidhm sa Tuaisceart.

• Acmhuinní cuí a bheith ag pobal na Gaeilge thuaidh and theas leisan teanga a fhréamhú agus a fhorbairt sna pobail áitiúla.

• Lántacaíocht a bheith ann do chóras gaeloideachais ón leibhéalréamhscolaíochta ar aghaidh.

COMhIONANNAS TEANgA

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IN LOCAL gOVERNMENT

ChANgE FOR ThE BETTER

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MESSAgE FROM ThE ENVIRONMENT MINISTER

This local government election represents the beginning of anexciting new chapter in local government. I have successfullybrought forward the Local Government Bill and this will result notonly in a reduction in the number of councils but an increase intheir responsibility, accountability and transparency. It will bringpower closer to the people.

Central to the new councils will be the SDLP ethos of power-sharingand the protection of minority views – which we have ensured isenshrined in legislation. People want to see their politicians workingin partnership and my SDLP council colleagues will establish new,as well as build on existing partnerships with and withincommunities and with businesses seeking to create prosperity withour cross border colleagues, with central government and statutoryagencies to deliver better services.

SDLP councillors will continue working to create jobs, createcleaner, greener and safe communities and secure better facilitieswhere they are needed. We are giving planning powers back tolocal government which will make planning more responsive tolocal needs and circumstances. People will have a greater say incommunity planning. The SDLP will ensure that this new planningsystem is fast, fair and fit for purpose.

We secured £30m from the NI Executive to ensure the rate payer isnot left to pick up the tab for these improvements and we willcontinue to push for a fairer rates system based on the ability topay, protecting hard-pressed businesses and those on lowerincomes.

The SDLP will continue to ensure that this new, enhanced localgovernment model will achieve effective local representation, valuefor money, equality of opportunity and quality of services forratepayers.

mark H Durkan mLa

Environment minister

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ChANgE FOR ThE BETTER IN LOCALgOVERNMENT

Local government in Northern Ireland is undergoing fundamentalchange. Structures which have been under review since 2002 arefinally subject to reform.

Decisive and effective SDLP leadership in the Environment Ministryfrom first Alex Attwood, and currently Mark H Durkan, has providedcertainty to local councils for the first time in 12 years.

The SDLP has ensured local government reform is now beingimplemented, following 12 years of failure on the part of direct ruleministers and DUP - Sinn Féin disputes.


tHE BEttEr for LocaL communitiES

The SDLP will continue to take a “town centres first”approach to planning to protect the economic and socialheart of community life.

The SDLP has and will ensure openness, fairness, equalityand good relations are embedded in the communityplanning work of the new councils.

The SDLP has assisted businesses by increasing theeconomic development powers of councils and will notpermit your rates to rise above inflation.

EFFECTIVE REPRESENTATION

Power-sharing government has required compromise. The decisionto proceed with the 11 council model was that of the DUP and SinnFéin.

The SDLP has articulated serious reservations about the quality oflocal representation provided by councils covering such large anddiverse areas.

To help address this problem the SDLP has ensured the transfer ofadditional powers to councils, so councils are now beingempowered to better develop prosperity within their districts, andnegotiated a £50 million package to support councils and ratepayer relief.

Changes advanced by the SDLP will ensure effective localrepresentation, better value for money, enhanced equality ofopportunity, quality services for ratepayers and certainty for councilofficers and other staff.

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LOCAL ACCOuNTABILITY

As part of the SDLP commitment to deepening democracy inIreland the SDLP has embedded increased accountability within thenew local government structures.

We believe power-sharing must be embedded across NorthernIreland and government should always be representative andreflective of both communities.

The SDLP has ensured that promoting good relations is at the heartof the new councils’ community planning.

Under the new local government governance arrangements sharingcouncil positions of responsibility across political parties andindependents will be enshrined in law for the first time.

The new council structures will be more accountable to localpeople. As democratic republicans we believe that power liesfundamentally with the citizen, so we have ensured the public willalso now have more access to council meetings and documents.The SDLP has also ensured a new ethical standards regime will beinstituted with the establishment of a new mandatory code ofconduct for councillors.

The SDLP has put an end to dual mandates by placing a bar onMLAs, MPs and MEPs from being elected or sitting as councillors.

LOCAL ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT

The SDLP has ensured that under the new local government modelthe economic development powers of the councils will increase,bringing decision-making on a wide range of local economicdevelopment issues closer to those people and businesses thatthey directly affect.

The SDLP will lead on developing individual council andcollaborative capital investment strategies in local governmentareas which are capable of successfully leveraging governmentfinance for investment in major projects to benefit their localeconomy.

Alongside this we will vigorously promote a strategy to developaccess to new sources of finance for the new councils includingusing council’s increased rateable base to gain access to fundsfrom the European Investment Bank.

To boost local business and employment we will work towards moreefficient methods of payment of invoices to service providers toensure that businesses always benefit from working with councils.

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RATES

The 2015/16 local government rates will be the first set by the 11new councils. The amalgamation of many of the old councils toform the new councils has the potential to effect local governmentrates.

The SDLP has consistently pressed the Northern Ireland Executiveto ensure they and not the new local councils should pick up thetab for the reform of local government.

In that regard the SDLP ensured that the Executive committed up to£30 million for a rates relief scheme.

The SDLP has and will continue to encourage fiscal responsibility inthe new councils to ensure the ratepayer is not burdened by localgovernment reform.

In the longer term, reducing the number of councils and new waysof working will enable councils to make savings, benefitting theratepayer.

In the next mandate the SDLP will assist both the business anddomestic ratepayer by ensuring council rates do not rise aboveinflation.

PLANNINg

In developing a new strategic planning policy statement in whichover 20 separate planning policies will be incorporated into a singlepolicy SDLP Minister Mark H Durkan MLA is demonstrating muchneeded leadership in simplifying our planning rules.

The new arrangements will provide greater clarity to businessesand ensure a more streamlined planning process. This supportsfaster decision making and consequential economic benefits.

The SDLP has also ensured a new council led community planningprocess. This will allow our councillors to work in partnership withother public service providers to develop and implement a vision forthe economic, social and environmental well-being of the district. Itwill complement their existing work in community planning which isbeginning to safeguard local people's right to help shape the placesthey live and the local services they use.

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TOWN CENTRES

The SDLP is proud to support our town centres, the economic andsocial hubs of our community life. However we recognise that ourtown centres are under significant pressure from both the economicdownturn and new consumer internet shopping practices.

The SDLP is certain our town centres can and must remain thecentre of social and community life. At Executive level SDLP ministersAlex Attwood and Mark H Durkan have shown leadership bypromoting a “town centre first” approach to planning reforms.It is imperative that we protect and enhance the viability of towncentres and make them the preferred option when planning decisionsare made. The leadership of the SDLP Environment Minister must beechoed across government so to encourage town centre living andreview restrictions on issues as diverse as car parking and publicensing to support our local community businesses.

Through our leadership of the Department of the Environment theSDLP has sought to assist business growth by reducing bureaucracyand speeding up planning decisions.

This includes establishing “prosperity agreements” negotiated andagreed between the Northern Ireland Environment Agency (NIEA) andbusiness associations and through the introduction of a BetterRegulation Bill to transform and streamline environmental regulationfor compliant businesses. This will free up NIEA resources to focus onpoor and non-compliant businesses.

Having demonstrated leadership on planning at Northern IrelandExecutive level the SDLP is also ensuring much better public accessto planning decision making by devolving planning powers to the newcouncils.

This new level of access will enable businesses and communityorganisations to become involved in planning decision making at thepre-application stage.

The SDLP will also ensure the NI Executive considers how they coulduse rating and licensing to creatively develop hospitality businessquarters. These could be micro versions of the newly announcedColeraine enterprise zone.

The SDLP will continue to fight for Executive financing of thedereliction fund which has benefitted many towns and villages duringthis economic downturn and which will again play its part inpresenting a Northern Ireland in the best possible light to the globalaudience of the Giro d’Italia.

The SDLP has brought forward measures including training forcouncillors and council staff regarding the new regime which willallow for the smooth transfer of powers and on-going openness andaccountability.

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LOCAL COMMuNITY SERVICES

SDLP councillors across the North remain committed to seeing theircouncils operating in the most efficient, transparent, accountablemanner and providing value for money.

With the additional powers and responsibilities soon to be at thedisposal of local government more effective and accountabledecisions can be taken locally.

This will enable SDLP councillors to continue to work to develop amore user-friendly approach to the new and existing servicescouncils will provide.

The SDLP will work to deliver improved public services. Thisincludes maintaining vital council services such as cleansingand waste collection that must remain at a constantly high standardto engender civic pride and to prevent the development of pettycrime and anti-social behaviour.

We will ensure that the provision of council services for olderpeople continues through discounted schemes at our leisurecentres and activities at our community centres.

The SDLP will continue to ensure that the needs and voices ofyoung people are always listened to as part of the decision-makingprocess by encouraging councils to retain and develop youthcouncils and engagement via social media.

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SAFER, hEALThIER LOCALITIES

SDLP councillors across Northern Ireland aim to create sharedspaces which are safe and healthy and that provide opportunitiesfor all our citizens.

We are committed to working with the relevant health agencies inboth urban and rural settings to ensure each council has aneffective strategy to tackle health inequalities and that councilpolicies are health-proofed.

Our councillors will work closely with the SDLP EnvironmentMinister and other relevant officials to protect and enhance ourparks, beaches and green spaces and we will work to develop ageappropriate facilities in all community recreation facilities.

We will work to encourage healthier lifestyle by improving upon,and promoting the use of, existing health and wellbeing facilities,sports facilities, allotments and projects to enhance quality of life.

SDLP councillors will continue to ensure their councils have well-resourced anti-poverty strategies and work to inform those in themost need of the services and assistance which is available.

Many of our local councillors already sit on Policing and CommunitySafety Partnerships (PCSPs) and all are committed to working withthe PSNI to improve the safety of their local communities.

This work includes encouraging councils to provide increasedfunding for community projects which promote individual andcommunity responsibility, youth engagement, advice on security forolder people, simple ways to report anti-social behaviour andinfrastructure measures such as alley-gating. Our aim is to assist inreducing crime, tackling anti-social behaviour and allowing peopleto feel safe in their homes and on the streets.

LOCAL hOSPITALITY DEVELOPMENT

SDLP councillors are proud to represent their local area’s and toactively promote each areas individual take on Irish hospitality.

Successive SDLP Environment ministers have complemented thework of the Northern Ireland Tourist Board and the Department ofEnterprise Trade and Investment to boost Northern Ireland’shospitality industry by exercising planning powers, fundingarchaeological investigations on key heritage sites and creating aheritage led-tourism fund which has seen money invested inmonuments including the Downpatrick High Cross, Dundrum Castle,Carlisle Memorial Church and Tullaghoge Fort.

As planning powers also revert to local councils the SDLP will ensurelocal councils continue this positive collaboration to boost the hugetourism potential our region possesses.

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FOR ThIS DOCuMENT IN ALTERNATIVE FORMATS

PLEASE CONTACT SDLP hEADQuARTERS

ChANgE FOR ThE

BETTER AThRAIgh ChuN

LEASA

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Belfast Bt7 1SH

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